During a Government House press briefing on Wednesday, officials shared information about a partnership with CARICOM and its private sector to expand maritime connectivity throughout the Caribbean. Bryan signed a Memorandum of Understanding, and St. Croix will be designated as a hub of maritime trade and travel across the Caribbean.
Director of Communications Richard Motta Jr. began Wednesday’s briefing by sharing excitement about the Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands’ collaboration with Connect Caribe, a private sector company providing services to CARICOM, including planning to build a maritime network throughout the Caribbean. (CARICOM is an intergovernmental organization that is a political and economic union of 15 member states and five associated members throughout the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean.)
“We are gathered here at Government House on St. Croix as Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. prepares to announce a landmark partnership [with CARICOM] that will have a transformative impact on the Virgin Islands and the broader Caribbean region,” Motta said. “This initiative represents a major step forward in advancing our regional economic development trade relations and transportation connectivity.”
“[The partnership] also creates new opportunities for the people of the Virgin Islands and strengthens our role as a vital player in the Caribbean economy,” Motta explained.
St. Croix May Emerge as One of Three Major Hubs of Caribbean Marine Activity
Anthony Weeks, president and managing director of the St. Croix Economic Development Initiative-Caribbean Americas Single Economy, provided details about the work he and his team have completed and revealed information about the maritime network expansion planned for St. Croix and the greater Caribbean.
“My colleague, attorney Scot McChain and I founded the St. Croix Economic Development Initiative, and we felt that it was important to position the U.S. Virgin Islands to be a major force [for] facilitating trade and commerce in capital markets,” Weeks explained. “I’m pleased to announce today, formally, that we’ve created a public-private partnership, a macroeconomic policy initiative called the Caribbean America’s Single Economy,” Weeks said.
Weeks stated that his work, along with a collaboration with the Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, has resulted in the USVI having the opportunity to be a part of a significant maritime network being built through CARICOM and its private sector, including Connect Caribe, ultimately designating St. Croix as one of three major hubs of marine activity.
“Today is the landmark historic event, where, going forward, [CARICOM and private sector partners are] going to build a maritime network throughout the entire Caribbean,” Weeks proclaimed. “We are building a network of passenger and cargo ferries that will connect all of the Caribbean, coming from [Suriname,] South America, all the way up to the U.S. Virgin Islands. There [will] be three major hubs: Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands,” Weeks stated.
USVI and CARICOM Further Explained
In a recent interview with the Source, Weeks offered more information for those who may not be familiar with CARICOM’s plans for maritime expansion across the Caribbean. Weeks said that the USVI and Puerto Rico are authorized to participate as observers of CARICOM but cannot join the network of 15 sovereign nations.
“CARICOM is represented and composed by heads of government of sovereign, independent island nations, and there are also associate members and observers, who are not sovereign states,” Weeks explained during the Source interview. “Even though we have been granted the authority for the USVI to participate as an associate member or an observer of CARICOM, we have been negligent in our responsibility to do that,” Weeks said.
Weeks hopes this will change with the signing of the USVI’s new partnership with CARICOM, acknowledging St. Croix’s potential as a hub for further economic opportunities for the USVI and throughout the Caribbean.
Weeks further explained how the U.S. Virgin Islands will benefit from the collaboration and a maritime network to increase commerce, trade, technology, and travel throughout the region.
“The St. Croix shipyard [a project along the island’s south shore] is one of our major initiatives,” Weeks told the Source. “The St. Croix Shipyard has partnered with The Pleion Group, which is the CARICOM private sector organization member [that] is tasked with building the Caribbean new maritime ferry system of passengers and cargo,” Weeks noted.
“There will be a designated vessel [for passenger ferry and cargo services] to have a connection between not only the U.S. Virgin Islands but also with the British Virgin Islands and the rest of the Caribbean,” Weeks stated.
“The St. Croix Shipyard will now become one of the stakeholders in the buildout of this network, and services are slated to start in the first quarter of 2025,” he continued.
Bryan Expresses Enthusiasm for the Future of the USVI
Bryan took time to share his enthusiasm about the collaboration with CARICOM before signing an agreement with Connect Caribe. A subsidiary of The Pleion Group of Barbados, Connect Caribe was created to help solve the maritime transportation, trade, and commerce challenges affecting interregional trade between Caribbean nations, according to information on Connect Caribe’s website.
“From the very beginning of my administration, I’ve emphasized the importance of harnessing the potential of not only our maritime resources but also our Caribbean resources,” Bryan explained. “In my first address, I mentioned for too long we have governed with our backs to the water, [and] today’s signing of this memorandum of understanding is just one more step forward in ensuring that we [take full advantage] of the economic benefits that lie within our reach,” Bryan added.
“Today’s partnership with Connect Caribe represents a major move in strategy to grow the territory’s blue economy and tap into the vast transshipment opportunities [including the V.I. Economic Development Authority to discuss opportunities around the South Shore Trade Zone Program] that exist in this region,” the governor continued.
“We now have access to investors who want to look at St. Croix as a worthy investment to their future,” Bryan said of the partnership created with CARICOM and the private sector. Bryan signed the Memorandum of Understanding after the press briefing.
